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NSW mourns death of Charlie Onus

Former NSW Waratah Charlie Onus (62) has passed away in a crash on his farm in Coolac, between Canberra and Gundagai, earlier this week.

Charlie was originally from Mungindi and represented Moree RFC, Central North, NSW Country and NSW in the early 1970s. Born in 1952, he was capped twice for NSW at breakaway in 1976 at the age of 24.

He had the unfortunate honour of making his debut against Queensland in Brisbane on 29 May 1976 on one of the worst days in NSW rugby history, with Queensland blitzing NSW by 42-4. Onus scored the only NSW points when he dived over in the corner for a try during the first half.

The NSW side contained eight members of the then all-conquering NSW Country team, including Onus. His other cap was a big 37-6 win over Fiji the following week at the old Sydney Sports Ground (now Allianz Stadium) on 5 June. Onus represented NSW Country against Sydney in 1974 and 1976. He was a very skillful and mobile backrower, before injury forced his early retirement.

Our thoughts and wishes are with his wife Mandy, his children and brothers Rob and Clive.